November 5, 2014

You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?

[center][font style="font-family:papyrus,'Brush Script MT','comic sans MS',fantasy;" size=5 color=teal] We all met with a terrible fate last night, but the moon hasn't fallen and what was old is new again!

Yes my fellow Zelda fans....[/font]

[font style="font-family:'Brush Script MT',''Lucida handwriting MT','forte',cursive;" size=7 color=crimson]it's official[/font]

[font style="font-family:papyrus,'Brush Script MT','comic sans MS',fantasy;" size=5 color=teal]Majora's Mask 3DS is coming![/font]


[font style="font-family:papyrus,'Brush Script MT','comic sans MS',fantasy;" size=5 color=teal]Let the countdown begin anew![/font]

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November 2, 2014

There has been a lot of talk about labels here and in the other room lately and yeah they do suck

They divide people and oversimplify things.

But you know what sucks more? Having people, who oppose your very existence, labeling you instead and having it stick. The reality that those who oppose labels refuse to accept is that you either define yourself, or you allow others to define you.

Words have power. If you allow others to label you, then they get to define who you are and have power over you. Power to tell the world what you believe and what you don't believe. Power to call you moral or immoral, power to deem you worthy or to turn you into a monster. Power to strengthen you or strip you of your very humanity...and then, in the most extreme of circumstances, your life.

By defining yourself you are taking power over how you are perceived by others. You are telling the world what it is that makes you unique, and to do so on your own terms. You are telling the world what makes you...YOU!!!

Getting rid of labels sounds good on paper, but what it really does is empower intolerance and ends individuality. It is a demand that we all be alike, that we all be the same. It is conformist thinking that rejects anything different, anything unique, anything valuable that the majority does not have or want.

To the anti-label crowd, you are not an African American, you are just an American. You are not gay, you are just another person. If your experience does not meld with the majority experience, they are going to want to pretend your issues do not exist. To deny you. To deny the adversities you face. To say, "Why do you have a problem with that? Why do you insist on dividing us?" To push you back into the closet and pretend you don't exist! This is why you see the right wing demanding we stop seeing the world in colors and demand we all be colorblind, because they are the majority. Because they know they will win that way.

Its the ultimate whitewashing under the banner of conformity! One that tries to disguise itself as benevolent egalitarian collectivism when it fact it is a tool of fascist hierarchical collectivism that sacrifices individuality at the alter of tyranny of the majority.

[div class="excerpt" style="margin-left:1em; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius:0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"][center]"Why do you have to bring up your sexuality/atheism? Why can't we all just be the same." [/center]

[font face=papyrus size=3][center] Why? [/center]

[center] Because we are NOT all the same! Because those things are parts of me! [/center][/font]

[div style='color:#B20000 !important; font-size:2em !important; text-align:center !important;'] BECAUSE I HAVE VALUE AND WILL NOT BE PUSHED INTO ANY CLOSET I DON'T WANT TO BE IN!!!

[div style='color:#B20000 !important; font-size:5em !important; text-align:center !important;'] YOU DON'T GET TO DEFINE ME!!!

[font face=papyrus size=3][center]I will not be ashamed of being an atheist or any of my labels! [/center]

[font color=teal][center] I will not be silent and fade into the background because my label makes you uncomfortable. I am not going to let you tell me what I do or do not believe! To further STIGMATIZE the label I identify with. I am not going to let you associate me and my label with things they have nothing to do with![/center][/font][/font]

[div style='color:#B20000 !important; font-size:5em !important; text-align:center !important;']I am proud of who I am and I WILL NOT LET YOU OR ANYONE ELSE DEFINE ME!!!


[center] [/center]

In conclusion, I would like to say, if you don't like my labels then don't use them. I don't care how you label yourself, and I believe it is your RIGHT to label yourself as you wish. However, if you do make up your own label, do it on your own terms. Don't use my label to define your label; because, when you do that, whether you intend to or not, you are applying your own biases to the label and redefining me in the process.


[font face=papyrus size=3][center]AND I WILL NOT LET YOU DO THAT! I WON'T BE QUIET! I WILL PUSH BACK![/center][/font]

[center][font color=#B20000 size=5em face=Impact]I am Proud to be who I am. [/font] [font color=#B20000 size=6em face=Impact] A Liberal. An Agnostic.[/center]
[center][/font] [font color=#B20000 size=7em face=Impact] And an ATHEIST! [/font][/center]

October 31, 2014

This seems to be the best thread to express this sentiment to all my fellow infidels

Happy Extort Complete Strangers for Junk Food with Random Threats of Vandalism Day!!!



Whether you are going to a party, taking some kiddos trick or treating, Driving fundies crazy, or simply staying home watching scary movies may your activities tonight be fun filled and most importantly safe!

October 26, 2014

Asexual Awareness Week

For a long time I was confused about my sexuality.

I thought I was straight, but something just was not right with that identity. While I did feel an attraction to the opposite gender, something about this attraction did not feel like the attractions my friends felt. In fact it was different from the attraction every other person I knew seemed to have.

Then, around the time I first joined DU, I came across a series of articles on the huffington post about asexuality. It was eye opening and drew a picture that looked like me in a lot of different ways. It led me to look up more information from the Asexuality Visibility & Education Network and then to make a post here on DU asking about asexuality.

Even now, a year later, I still find the whole thing confusing. How do you know that you are lacking sexual attraction if you have never experienced it? How does one separate sexual attraction from romantic attraction or sensual attraction? But the more I thought about it, the more certain I have become that I simply do not have any desire to engage in intercourse.

Starting today, October 26, and ending November 1st it is Asexual Awareness Week, and I wanted to mark the occasion by making a post here in the LGBT group about the hidden orientation:

[div style='color: purple;font-size: 2.5em;'][center] Asexuality [/center]

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[div style='color: purple;font-size: 1.25em;'][center]What exactly is asexuality?[/center]

Asexuality is a sexual orientation in which a person (sometimes called an Ace) does not experience sexual attraction or sexual desire directed toward others. This is in contrast to celibacy where one experience sexuality but chooses to refrain from engaging in sexual activity due to some reason other than lack of desire or attraction.

For instance they might abstain because of their religious views or wanting to save one's self for marriage. To put it another way, celibacy is a choice; while asexuality, is not.

[div style='color: purple;font-size: 1.25em;'][center]What do you mean by sexual attraction?[/center]

Sexual attraction is an attraction one person has toward another for the purpose of having sexual intercourse.

This is different from romantic attraction, in which one desires an emotional relationship with another person. It is also different from sensual attraction in which one desires physical contact (such as cuddling) with another person, but not necessary sex.

There is also yet another type of attraction that one can experience called an aesthetic attraction. This is an attraction to another person not based on any type of desire to do anything with the other person.

[div style='color: purple;font-size: 1.25em;'][center]Does that mean an Asexual can be romantically attracted to someone but not sexually?[/center]

Exactly!

Again, Asexuals, by definition, do not experience sexual attractions or desire toward others. However, an asexual may (or may not) experience romantic or sensual attractions to other people. An asexual who experiences romantic attractions to others can be designated as heteroromantic, homoromantic, gynoromantic, androromantic, or a variety of other terms. Conversely, when one does not experience romantic attraction/desire that person could be classified as being aromantic.

As an example, an asexual man who is romantically attracted to another man could be described as an homoromantic asexual or an androromantic asexual. Similarly, an asexual person could experience no romantic attractions at all, in which case they might identify as an aromantic asexual or aro-ace for short.

[div style='color: purple;font-size: 1.25em;'][center]So asexuals never engage in sex? Or if they do, then they are no longer asexual?[/center]

Incorrect. Many (but not all) asexuals actually do engage in sex; however, they do so not out of desire but usually for other reasons.

For example, an asexual may choose to engage in intercourse to please a romantic partner or because he/she/that one wishes to have children. Regardless of the reason, just because an asexual chooses to engage in sexual relations does not mean they are no longer an asexual.

Asexuality is an orientation and so long as one does not experience sexual desire or attraction they are still asexual.

[div style='color: purple;font-size: 1.25em;'][center]What if I do experience sexual attraction but its very low? [/center]

Asexuality, like sexuality, exists on a spectrum. Some people experience low sex drive or low sexual attraction. Others only experience these feelings only time to time. These people sometimes choose to identify as Grey A.

Still, others only experience sexual attraction once they have a deep emotional bond with another person. These people may choose to identify as Demisexuals. These are just a few of the many labels that one can find under the asexual umbrella.

[div style='color: purple;font-size: 1.25em;'][center] Do you know of some resources where I learn more about asexuality?[/center]

You can find more about asexuality and Asexuality Awareness Week below:

http://www.asexuality.org/home/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/asexuality/

http://asexualawarenessweek.com/

https://www.facebook.com/aceawareness

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mandyw9/things-that-you-should-know-about-asexuality-9e2q

[p class=post-sig style=margin-top:0px;text-align:center;]

So, in conclusion, I would like to thanks the LGBT group here at DU for your time and help you gave me over a year ago; and I would like to wish you all a happy Asexual Awareness Week!

Now, anyone up for some cake?

[center] [/center]

[p class=post-sig style=margin-top:0px;text-align:center;]

October 23, 2014

After talking about Gamergate actress Felicia Day has private information leaked to public

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]Actress Felicia Day Opens Up About GamerGate Fears, Has Her Private Details Exposed Minutes Later[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]Instead of greeting two male gamers wearing Halo and Call of Duty shirts, prominent gamer and actress Felicia Day crossed the street.

“Seeing another gamer on the street used to be an auto-smile opportunity, or an entry into a conversation starting with, ‘Hey, dude! I love that game too!’ the Supernatural actress wrote on her Tumblr. But for the first time maybe in my life, on that Saturday afternoon, I walked towards that pair of gamers and I didn’t smile. I didn’t say hello. In fact, I crossed the street so I wouldn’t walk by them. A small voice of doubt in my brain now suspected that those guys and I might not be comrades after all. That they might not greet me with reflected friendliness, but contempt.”

That change is GamerGate — an online movement where a small subset of gamers have harassed female media critics, developers and bloggers with violent and graphic death and rape threats.

Feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian, who was driven from her home by gamers’ threats, recently had to cancel a speaking engagement at Utah State University after a letter threatened a massacre if the school did not cancel its event. While the written threat was jarring, Sarkeesian cancelled her talk because of Utah’s concealed carry laws, which meant the school couldn’t guarantee her safety. Game developers Brianna Wu and Zoe Quinn have also had to leave their homes because of the massive amount of death and rape threats.

More at link.

This happened minutes after posting this article:


[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]The Only Thing I Have To Say About Gamer Gate[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]I had a day off this weekend from shooting Supernatural, and I was walking around downtown Vancouver on Saturday, sampling all the artisan coffee I could get my throat around. At one point I saw a pair of guys walking towards me wearing gamer shirts. Black short-sleeved, one Halo and one Call of Duty.

Now in my life up until this point, that kind of outfit has meant one thing: Potential comrades. I love games, I love gaming. If it’s Friday night, I’m not out hanging at a club, I’m diving into a new game I downloaded on Steam. And I am blessed with the fact that my career is largely built upon that love, which I channeled into fiction so many years ago with “The Guild”. If there’s anything I’m proud of in this world, it’s the fact that I’ve had people come up to me on the street and at conventions over the years to tell me that they feel confident to call themselves a gamer because of my work, where before they were ashamed. Hearing that kind of stuff has kept me going, against the mainstream, against all odds.

So seeing another gamer on the street used to be an auto-smile opportunity, or an entry into a conversation starting with, “Hey, dude! I love that game too!” Me and that stranger automatically had something in common: A love for something unconventional. Outsiders in arms. We had an auto-stepping stone to hurtle over human-introduction-awkwardness, into talking about something we loved together. Instant connection!

But for the first time maybe in my life, on that Saturday afternoon, I walked towards that pair of gamers and I didn’t smile. I didn’t say hello. In fact, I crossed the street so I wouldn’t walk by them. Because after all the years of gamer love and inclusiveness, something had changed in me. A small voice of doubt in my brain now suspected that those guys and I might not be comrades after all. That they might not greet me with reflected friendliness, but contempt.

More at link.

Its ridiculous that people are having their private information leaked and their lives threatened just for asking for a little respect or even daring to have an opinion!

August 24, 2014

NY town bans atheists from delivering invocations after Supreme Court prayer victory

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]NY town bans atheists from delivering invocations after Supreme Court prayer victory[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]
[center] [/center]
[center] [/center]

In the wake of the Supreme Court ruling in its favor, the town of Greece, New York issued a new policy that will bar atheists from delivering opening invocations at city functions, the Center for Inquiry (CFI) reports.

According to the new policy, “[t]he invocation shall be voluntarily delivered by an appointed representative of an Assemblies List for the Town of Greece.” That list will be compiled by the clerk of the town board, and will consist of “assemblies with an established presence in the Town of Greece that regularly meet for the primary purpose of sharing a religious perspective.”

This policy dictates that no group lacking a “religious perspective” will be allowed onto the “Assemblies List,” which means that speakers who lack such perspectives will not be eligible to deliver opening invocations. The “Assemblies List” will consist of “all ‘churches,’ ‘synagogues,’ ‘congregations,’ ‘temples,’ ‘mosques’ or other religious assemblies in the Town of Greece” — meaning that the policy specifically excludes anyone who does not participate in a “religious assembly” from delivering an opening invocation.

The Town Board justified its decision by noting that “our country’s Founders recognized that we possess certain rights that cannot be awarded, surrendered, nor corrupted by human power, and the Founders explicitly attributed the origins of these, our inalienable rights, to a Creator.” The policy does not “show a purposeful preference of one religious view over another,” because it does not permit “the faith of the person delivering the invocation to be considered when extending an invitation[.]”


More at link

August 20, 2014

Creationist's Noah's Ark Theme Park Gets $18 Million Tax Break, Won't Hire Gays, Atheists

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]The New Civil Rights Movement[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]
[p class=post-sig style=margin-top:0px;text-align:center;]

Creationist Ken Ham has very strict standards when it comes to hiring people -- not so strict standards when it comes to accepting donations.

His Ark Encounter theme park late last month was unanimously approved for an $18 million tax break -- paid for by the citizens of Kentucky, thanks to the Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority -- and after many years of trying to get his second creationist-motivated museum moving, he says they have secured financing and broken ground. What Ham doesn't say much about is a reported donation worth $1 million from the leader of a certified white supremacist hate group.

"The project is slated to include a facsimile of Noah’s Ark and the Tower of Babel, and will proselytize Christian evangelicalism to patrons, an Answers in Genesis spokesman said," reports an NPR affiliate.

But Daniel Phelps, the president of the Kentucky Paleontological Society and vice president of Kentuckians for Science Education, isn't pleased. In an op-ed at the Lexington Herald-Leader, "Non-Christians need not apply," Phelps explains his concerns.

More at link

Apparently do unto others as you would have them do unto you means that they want to be discriminated against through hiring policies. Not that any self respecting atheist or member of the LGBTQ community would in any way WANT to work for this asshole.

That said, times are hard for many people right now and self respect takes a second seat to earning money to put food on the table

Regardless, if they are going to be discriminatory in their hiring policies they should lose their tax break.

June 18, 2014

Town bans pagan temple after finding out its not Christian

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]The Raw Story[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]
[center] [/center]

Arkansas town bans pagan temple after finding out it’s not Christian: Your ‘God isn’t my God’
By David Edwards
Wednesday, June 18, 2014 12:41 EDT

[center] [/center]

The high priest of an Arkansas temple said that the city of Beebe ordered him to close after finding out that his religion was pagan, not Christian.

High Priest Bertram Dahl told KARK that Beebe Mayor Mike Robertson had initially supported his plans to open a Seekers temple and spiritual good shop in the garage behind his home.

“When they knew we were going to open a church, it wasn’t an issue,” he explained. “We explained to [the mayor] the house had a building that we could open the church in, and he had no problem.”

But Dahl said that the city’s attitude changed after learning that members of the temple were pagan.

More at link at the top of the quote!

And even more here:
http://www.seekerstemple.com/problems-in-beebe/

Didn't see this on the front page and thought this was a suitable topic for this forum!

May 14, 2014

What is meant when one uses the word "god(s)"

I posted a thread in another forum asking about the definition of atheism. So I thought it might be interesting to create a thread on the definition of god here in religion.

[div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#dcdcdc; padding-bottom:5px; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom:none; border-radius:0.4615em 0.4615em 0em 0em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"] Empedocles [div class="excerpt" style="background-color:#f0f0f0; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-top:none; border-radius:0em 0em 0.4615em 0.4615em; box-shadow:3px 3px 3px #999999;"]The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere.

What do people mean when they use the word "god?" Are we all talking about the same thing? Or is this an abstract concept that most people really don't understand and each person has their own definition.

• Are they/he/she/it a force of nature given consciousness ala what we find in many polytheistic religions (gods of fire, water, earth, and air)?



• Or are they/he/she/it an all powerful all knowing all present supernatural person(s) that created the universe by sheer force of will? A personal God, like YHWH as described using a literal interpretation of the bible.



• Or is your god an all powerful force with which we can't relate like the god of Deism.



• Or maybe god is the essence flowing through and giving essence to everything. Like the God of Spinoza/Pantheism



• Or are you unsure if there is a god at all if not out right believe there are no gods. Atheism.



• Or is the very notion of a god nonsensical to you? A poorly defined concept that needs further thought and development before you possibly take a position? Ignosticism.



• Or something else entirely?

No poll options. I would like to hear you put your answer in your own words. Again, this is about how you define god not so much what god/religion you believe in, though if you want to share that, feel free.

What do you mean when you say god?

[center] Cross posted on the discussionist forums (not DU post at your own risk) [/center]

May 9, 2014

How do you define atheism?

There has been a lot of debate on what the word atheist means in the OTHER forum as of late.

In response, I thought it would be nice to have a thread here in the A/A forum for us to point to in order to show others how we, ACTUAL REAL LIVE ATHEISTS, define ourselves.

All that said, I humbly ask that any believers who visit our forum please refrain from replying.

So how do you define atheism? Is atheism a belief that there is no god(s), or is it a lack of belief in any god(s), or do you have a completely different definition?

Edit:
The agnostic version of this post can now be found here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/123023350